Day after Day
by sciencemaster154
Summary: One night at Sweet Apple Acres, a familiar pony arrives in an unexpected way. Applejack doesn't think twice of helping him, but how did this pony appear in such a miserable state? Will Applejack be able to relieve him of the past? What will become of the these two ponies as the get to know each other, truthfully, for the first time? Only time will tell on this emotional, wild, roll
1. chapter 1: Rackus or Ruckus?

Chapter 1: Rackus or a Ruckus?

I wake up to a loud commotion coming outside the barn. I just diminish it as nothing more than the animals stirring in their pens, but an ear-piercing scream makes me jump out of bed, down the stairs, and out of the barn before I even think of my own safety.

I follow the loud, screeching screams, but, suddenly, it's stopped. I slow my steps as I get closer to a faint muffled sobs of something near the pig's pen. Turning the corner, I see a shady figure bent over, surrounded in what looks like a dark substance.

"Hello?" I say, before getting any closer," Who's there?"

The figure stops sobbing to look up at me, and I realize who it is by the little bit of moonlight shining on its light green eyes.

"Applejack?" The figure asks in a scratchy voice.

"Flim?" I question in total shock.

Is this real? Am I in a dream? I couldn't comprehend how in the wide, wide world of Equestria Flim could be at Sweet Apple Acres in the middle of the night, and here, of all places! He makes a severe cry of pain, and I notice the puddle surrounding him. It's blood. I quickly close off the distance between us and see what is wrong.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I-I'm n-n-not s-sure," Flim struggled to get out.

I scanned over the rest of him to make sure that all of his hooves were intact. Thank goodness there were no missing body parts.

I didn't ask any more questions and didn't think twice of what I was about to do. Instead of reminiscing over our past, I lifted Flim up slowly to not bring any more pain to him and carried him back to the barn. I know I should've thought about it more, but when a pony is in need, or a drastic need in this case, there I'll be.

After I laid Flim down on the sofa, the light showed just how bad of a condition he was really in. There were multiple cuts and bruises all over him, and his usual "uniform" was shredded to pieces. His hat was missing, and, most importantly, there was a large gash in his side, with blood still seeping out. I look around to find a cloth to cover up the wound, but instead, I find Big Macintosh at the bottom of the stairs, with a confused look on his face.

"I'm guessing my ruckus woke you up?" I question my brother.

"Eeyup," He response with his usual phrase. He quickly looks around the room to find Flim on the sofa. He looks in shock, but then looks at me with a questioning look, as if waiting for the answer to come from me.

"I heard a loud commotion coming from outside and went to check it out," I explained," Turns out, it was Flim, lying near the pig pen, in really bad shape, as you can tell. I carried him back here, hoping that I could help him."

Big Mac walked over to the injured stallion. For a second, I thought he was going to yell at me for letting such a ruthless fellow into our house, but instead, he offers to help. I ask him to find a cloth, and I would get the medicine to heal the wounds.

Once we met back up in the living room, Flim was sitting up slightly, clearly still in a lot of pain. He looked down at the deep cut in his side and began to sob slightly. Before he could go into a meltdown like outside, I walk into the room, causing him to look at me.

"T-thank you, A-applejack," Flim struggled to get out.

"Don't strain your voice now, you hear?" I tell him," You don't have to thank me. I saw a pony in need, and no matter how bad they might've been, they deserve help." Flim responsed with a slight smile, one that I've never seen on him before. It looks good on him.

I began to start cleaning up his wounds, and Big Mac joined me, wiping alcohol over the cut in his side. Flim winced at this but didn't move. By the time we completed bandaging all we could, Granny Smith was looking over the top of the stairs.

"What are you young whippersnappers doing this early in the morning?" She asked.

I pointed to Flim, and she gasped but stayed in her position.

"Applejack, dear, show him to the guest room," Granny said calmly.

"Okay, Granny."

Me and Big Mac carried Flim cautiously up the stairs, not daring to let him drop down them. After pulling the sheets back, Big Mac laid him down in the bed, careful not the let him hit the headboard. I brought the covers back over Flim and started walking away, but suddenly, he grabbed my hoof.

"T-thank you, s-sweet Applejack," Flim said, before passing out from an obviously stressful night. I placed his hoof back on the bed and made my way back to my room, across the hall. I laid down and fell asleep with only a question filling my thoughts.

What could have possibly happened to Flim?


	2. Chapter 2: A New Beginning

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p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;"em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"Cucka-loocka-choo/em/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;"The rooster's loud call woke up. I'd forgotten last night events until I heard a heavy, dry cough come from across the hall. I began to get up at a much faster pace, grabbing my iconic hat off the headboard, before making my way across the hall to the distressed stallion lying in our guest bedroom./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;"I peered around the corner of the door to see Flim sitting up in bed, coughing, which sounded like a cat hacking up a fur ball. I backed away and rushed to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Granny Smith was cooking breakfast but noticed me rummaging around the kitchen to get a cup. Once I got the water, I hurried back up the stairs and quickly handed to glass to Flim, who chugged it down in no time at all. Once downing the water, he looked relieved that the cough was finally gone; so was I./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;""Did that water help?" I asked./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;"He cleared his throat before responding. "Yeah, it did. Thank you again, Applejack."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;""What did I say?" I questioned him," No need to thank me. Anypony would've done the same thing if they saw you in trouble./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;"Flim pinned his ears back at this comment and looked down at the sheet covering his thin, bruised-up body./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;""Wouldn't they?" I ask in a concerned matter./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;""I'm not so sure," he responded," I don't think anypony would have taken me in if I stumbled upon any other house here in Ponyville."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;"I couldn't exactly disagree with him. After him and his brother came back two times, they were not the most liked, and certainly not the most trusted ponies of the ponies of Ponyville. My family and I were the most affected by their visits, but, right now, I paid very little to mind the past we had with the troublesome brothers. Of course it bothered me slightly that a conman was lying in the guest bed, but his moans and groans of pain overran my mind to send him outside, but rather to help Flim get well./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;""Well," I started, sitting on the far end of the bed," You and your brother weren't the friendliest ponies to come around here."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;""Yeah, we weren't, were we?" he sighed," Applejack, I want to apologize for everything me and my brother did to you and your family. I understand we weren't the most trustworthy ponies around, but I need to tell you, none of it was my idea. It was my brother's."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;""What do you mean?" I questioned, cocking my head to the side, causing my hat to slant and cover my right ear. Flim smirks at this, which makes me glow inside. He uses his magic to set my hat back on head./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;"I felt a slight tug at my heart./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;"Why did that happen? Did Flim cause that new sensation?/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;"I felt my face began to heat up and turned my head to look out the window instead of at Flim so he couldn't so the very visible blush appear on my light orange cheeks. Flim was about to respond to my question, but Granny interrupted him./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;""Breakfast is ready!"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;"I got up slowly, not to move Flim's body too much./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;""Don't worry," I said to comfort him," I'll bring you some food. You just stay here and rest for little while longer."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;"I left the guest room before he could thank me once again and walked down the stairs to the glorious smell of pancakes with eggs./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;"After washing off the dishes and collecting some food for Flim onto a plate, I went back up the stairs to deliver a delicate breakfast to pony who needed it much more than I did. Flim's head instantly lifted off the pillow when he smelled the sweet aroma of homemade pancakes. I placed the plate onto his lap and backed away so he could enjoy the food without somepony in his personal space. He licked is his lips in anticipation and then dug right on into the food. He was obviously very hungry because he didn't stop until there wasn't a crumb left on the plate. He placed the already cleaned plate on to the table beside him. I picked it up and began walking away, but Flim stopped me in my tracks before I could get one hoof out the door./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;""Tell Granny Smith that she is an excellent cook," he said, then adding," Is there anything I can do to help you or your family today?"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;""Not a chance, Sugarcube," I responded," The only thing you can do today is get as much rest as possible."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;"He sighed before saying," I just want to thank you one last time for everything that you have done, Applejack. I don't know what would've happened to me if you hadn't come and saved me when you did."br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;" /I looked at Flim and saw just how honest he was truly being. I've never seen this side of him before. I like it./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;""Your welcome, Flim," I said, adding a smile to my face," Although, there is one thing you can do."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;""Really?" Flim asked, excitedly," I will gladly help whatever way I can."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;""You can help me by telling me of how you ended up at Sweet Apples Acres in the middle of the night and badly hurt. Do you think you can do that by the time I finish my chores this afternoon?"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;"I could tell it wasn't a topic he wanted to bring up, but he realized he wasn't getting out of telling me a story that could help me understand just what had happened to him./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;""Okay, Applejack," Flim reconciled," I'll tell you this afternoon."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;""Thank you," I said, winking at him on the way out of his new room./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; transition: background-color 0.5s; color: #555555; text-align: justify;"No one could have prepared me for the story I was going to be hearing later this afternoon./p 


	3. Chapter 3: A Tale Dark and Grimm

Chapter 3: A Tale Dark and Grimm

A hard day's work sure does take a toll on your body, and, boy, was mine sure sore. You would think by now after years of applebucking that I wouldn't get so tired from it, but it's just as much work as the first time I started my daily applebucking routine.

I was in the west orchard, finishing off the last of the trees that needed bucking. _Last one_ , I though to myself.I reared my back legs up to the center of the tree and _BAM!_ All at once, the apples came tumbling down from the weighed down branches of the old apple tree. I wiped the sweat away from my forehead and turned around to look at all the work that I'd accomplished for the day. Over half an acre of apple trees were cleared of the very object that made them apple trees. Not a single apple was left.

A low rumble from my belly tells me it's time for dinner. I make my way down the path through the emptied apple trees back to the barn. Immediately, I smell the freshly baked, apple pie that Granny had made over years of practice. I walk through the old, wooden door to the surprise of Flim sitting down at the dinning table in front of me.

At first I'm surprised, but I tell myself that he probably got tired from being in bed all day, and there was no reason for him not to join us for a delectable, homemade meal.

"Applejack," Granny called from the kitchen," Would you be a dear and set the plates out on the table, please?"

"Sure thing, Granny," I responded.

Before I could lay a hoof on the plates, a light green aurora surrounded all five dishes and levitated them off the counter. I'm confused for a moment, but when I turn around, I see that Flim has brought all the dishes back to the table, placed in the proper seating arrangements. I give him a quizzical look as to why he would do that.

"It's the least I could do, " he answered, as if reading my mind.

"Thank you, Flim."

"No need to thank me," he responded with a wink. I giggled at this, and Flim smiled at the fact that he had me laugh.

"Soup's on, everpony!" Granny Smith yelled.

I made my way back to the table and took my seat next to Flim.

After a delicious meal and small talk over our eventful days, I helped clean up the kitchen. Flim had insisted on helping, but I commanded him to go back up to his room and that I would be up in a minute to listen to his tale of how he ended up at Sweet Apple Acres.

I made my up the stairs towards Flim's new room, not knowing what I was about to get myself into. I entered the room to find Flim sitting up in his bed, lying under is sheets, as though I was going to be telling him a story.

"I would sit down for this story, Miss Applejack," Flim recommended," It may be bothersome and horrific in some parts of my tragic tale."

"Uh, okay," I said, questioning myself if I really wanted to hear what Flim had to say.

I sat at the end of the bed, right at the bottom Flim's hooves and laid back, ready for the long story that was about to come.

"Ready?" Flim asked.

"Ready," I respond with a little concern in my voice.

Flim cleared his throat before beginning his story.

One week earlier

Flim's P.O.V.

"Thank you, sir," my devious brother, Flam, said to the buying customer," There's no doubt that you will be young and spry in a matter of minutes after taking this tonic."

"Thank ya, young colt," the older stallion responded. He walked off, grinning to himself because he had just bought himself a "Miracle" tonic.

I mumbled a remark under my breath about how Flam's deceitful ways were getting us nowhere.

"What was that, my dear brother?" Flam asked, obviously hearing my little comment.

"I said that we are getting nowhere in lying about this supposedly "miracle" curative tonic that supposedly makes a old pony young again!" I shouted loud enough for some bystanders to glance our way.

Flam was clearly taken aback my this. Discomfort was shown across his mustachioed face, an honestly, for the first time ever, I couldn't care less at this moment.

"Dear, brother," Flam responded, pointing his hoof towards our tent," Why don't we discuss this in a private, yes?"

I didn't budge at first, but I obliged after noticing all the attention we had drawn from my little outburst. I rolled my eyes before trotting on over to our tent, entering it, not bothering to leave the flap open for my brother. Once Flam entered the tent and closed it off, I let out a storm of emotions and thoughts that had been building up inside my heart and head for too long.

"Do you have any idea how much I hate lying?" I started, trying to keep my voiced leveled but failing miserably," I despise it, but for over ten years, I've followed you, my big brother, in your hoofsteps. I figured that you knew what you were doing, not questioning your methods or ideas for so long, but I'm done. I'm done, Flam. Ever since our encounter with the Apple family in Ponyville, I've realized that there is so much more than money. There is such thing has having friends besides you. A true friend that wouldn't force me to be a lying, manipulating, conman!"

I was yelling by this point, not wanting to stop, but I was crying. Crying from keeping all of these thoughts and emotions in for too long. Crying out of anger at my brother who I had looked up to for so long before finally realizing he was doing nothing for me but bringing me to as low of a pony that he was.

"Flim," Flam began, with obvious anger in his voice,"Do you know how hard I work for us? Do you know how many years of lying and deceiving has gotten me to this point of perfect manipulating skills? I've done way more than you think. All of my goals for each item sell is to collect the money we need to survive. I've done this for both of us, and-"

"No," I interrupted," All you think about is yourself. There is no "we" to you when you sell a fake product to an unknown pony. I've seen the way you look at the bits that you collect. Nothing but greed is shown in your eyes. There is no 'we" to you, no-"

Before I can finish my sentence, a hard strike against my left cheek stops me in my tracks. I stumble back and rubbed my left cheek that was now a dark red against my light, cream-colored fur. I looked up in shock at my brother who had no regret on his face. Nothing but anger and fury.

"Go," Flam mumbled.

"Wha-?"

"GO!"

And I did. I went out of the tent, running at full speed. To where, I don't know, just somewhere far away from here. Goodbye Dodge Junction, hello someplace else. I didn't stop running until I came to the edge of a dark, dreary forest. It wasn't pleasant or welcoming but where there's plants, there's food. I took a deep breathe before bringing one hoof in front of the other until I was several feet into the unknown forest.

A few days passed by, and I was getting very thirsty. There was plenty of berries and plants, but there was no stream in sight. If I didn't get water soon, I was going to faint and very possibly, might not wake up, so I trudged on.

One late night, I felt I was going to pass out. The trees were casting long shadows across the forest floor, making me get an uneasy feeling in my stomach. I heard the rustle of some branches close by but didn't think much of it, after all, this was a forest, but then the winds began to pick up, causing the rustling to grow louder and louder.

 _It's nothing, Flim_ , I told myself. _It's just the wind. No big deal_.

As I was reassuring myself, I heard a low rumble, uncomfortably close for my liking. The rumbling began to surround me, and I began to panic, forgetting what I had just told myself. I couldn't teleport. My magic wasn't nearly advanced enough to do such strong magic. I was trapped.

Little yellow lights began to appear all around me. I didn't know what sort of creatures were showing up, but I didn't waist a minute longer to find out. I shot off through forest, hearing my attackers chasing after me. I was breathing heavy. Being dehydrated did not help me in the least. My body was sore and aching all over, but I was not about to die out here in this forest.

 _I-is that a building?_

A building! Oh, thank Celestia! I heard the creatures behind me and saw the building in front of me. No stopping now. I bolted as fast as I could go towards the building. Once making it out of the woods, I stopped, catching my breath, hoping that the creatures would not follow me out of the forest. Wishful thinking. I heard the growl of the creatures not far off, maybe a few feet away. Looking at my exit of the forest, I saw my killers clearly in the moonlight. Wolves. Tall wolves. Made out of twigs and leaves. It doesn't sound scary, but when you're basically face to face with one, you would change your mind.

I was shaking like the motor from the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. I couldn't run anymore. I was too tired and sore all over. There was no way of getting away now. I slowly backed up until I hit the back of the building.

 _This is the end of the line_ , I thought.

The leader of the pack of wolves leaped forward, knocking me over, forcing me to the ground on my back. The wolf snarled and growled at me before inserting its sharp, long claws into my side. I screamed out in pain. I felt the blood from my body pooling out of the cut in my side. I felt weaker than ever, so vulnerable and overwhelmed in pain. There was no getting out of this now. The leader clawed more cuts into my body, making me yell in pain once more. I was loosing blood and fast. I felt a pool of it surrounding my body.

The rest of the wolves were about to add on to the attack, but a loud slam of a door made them scurry off. With them gone, I was left alone, in my own warm, red blood, dying. I began to cry out. These were my last moments alive, and I was going to die alone. I was about to roll over in my pool of blood, to die face down in it, but I heard hoofsteps approaching. I stopped in my tracks, thankful that somepony had came to my rescue.

Present Time

Flim stopped talking, waiting for Applejack to make a comment along the lines of,"Wow", but he looked at the end of the bed to see Applejack, asleep. Her hat hanging off the top of her head, ready to fall down to the floor. Before it could, Flim levitated the Stetson hat over onto his nightstand, careful to make no dents in the hat.

He looked down at Applejack once more, smiling to himself of how beautiful she was.

 _What?_ He thought _What did I just think?_

He just figured he was just sleepy. He turned off the light, rolled over on his side, facing Applejack, and fell into a deep sleep.


	4. Chapter 4: Awkward Encounters

Chapter 4: Awkward Encounters

AJ's P.O.V.

I awake to the sun shining down on me. It's warm, radiant glow shines through my eyelids, causing me to instantly wake up at the bright light. Before I even lifted my head off the bed, I realized that I have something in my grasp. I look down at my hooves and notice a cream colored leg in my hooves. At first, I am unbelievably confused at what is in my hooves, but then I remembered the night before. I feel my face begin to heat up as I remembered the events of last night, and I lifted my head slowly to see that I'm holding onto Flim's leg.

I realize that Flim is still fast asleep, so I carefully unwrapped my hooves from around his leg, hoping that Flim is a deep sleeper. Fortunately, he was, but as I had begun to move my hooves from around his leg, Flim shifted onto his side, making the situation even more awkward. Now we were mere inches from each other's muzzle. I gasped at the fact that there was barely inches between his and my body. I couldn't move my hooves now, or he would wake up for sure.

 _Think, AJ, think,_ I told myself. My mind ran through all the possibilities that I could escape this awkward situation, but each of them involved Flim waking up. The only idea I could think of was just to go back to sleep and play it off when Flim wakes up. Of course, I did have morning chores, but I'm sure Big Mac would get them done for me. I layed my head back on the pillow and fell back asleep.

Flim's P.O.V.

The sun is shining brightly through the window, causing me to squint once I open my eyes. I instantly feel something on my hoof, and I looked down to see two orange hooves wrapped around my own. At first I'm confused, but when I look up, I realize that Applejack is mere inches from my muzzle. I feel a blush begin to appear on my cheeks from the close proximity of our muzzles, and then I realized that Applejack was waking up.

She slowly opens her eyes, and they instantly grow in size when she notices just how close we are.

"Uh, good morning, Flim," Applejack said, clearly embarrassed.

"Good morning to you too."

She looked down at her hooves and saw how they were wrapped gently around my own. She looked back up at me, and her face bloomed like a ripe tomato from the intensity of her blush. In a rapid movement, Applejack unwrapped her hooves from my own and got up off the bed. Her face was still a shade of red, but it was beginning to disappear. I turned over on my other side to see her begin to walk out the door.

"Wait!" I tell her," You forgot your hat."

"Oh, right," she responded.

She began to reach for it, but before she could grab it herself, I lifted it off the nightstand and placed it gently on her head.

"Thanks," she said, replying to my gesture," Why don't you come on down for breakfast. I'm sure Granny already has plenty of food prepared for us."

"Uh, sure. Of course."

I placed my hooves on the ground and followed Applejack down to the kitchen, where Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith were all sitting down.

"Goodmorning, everypony," I say, as I make my way to my assigned chair.

"I'm guessing you two slept well?" Granny Smith asked.

Applejack and I gave each other a quick glance before responding.

"Yes," we said in unison.

"I never heard you head back to your room, AJ," Apple Bloom commented.

"Oh, uh, yeah," Applejack stuttered out," I fell asleep in Flim's room last night."

"Why? Is he your coltfriend?" Apple Bloom questioned.

"No!" we both shouted at her. Everypony could tell that we were embarrassed by the question, as our cheeks glowed red.

"Then why'd you slee-," Apple Bloom started.

"Apple Bloom, can you go bring the extra bottle of syrup?" Granny Smith interjected.

"Of course, Granny."

Apple Bloom galloped off to the kitchen and once she was gone, Granny whispered something to me.

"Don't you worry 'bout her now, you hear? She's just filly getting into the love stages of life."

I smiled at the reassurance Granny gave me. "Oh, it's no problem. I figured a question like that would have been asked at some point."

Granny nodded her head as Apple Bloom came rushing back with the syrup in her mouth.

"Here you go, Granny."

"Thank you, Deary."

Once we finished breakfast, I helped Applejack clean off the dishes before bringing up a question I had been meaning to ask.

"Hey, Applejack?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we could go into town so I can get some clothes? I know it's an odd question since ponies don't normally wear clothes, but I feel naked without it."

Applejack thought about it for a minute before responding.

"Of course we can, Sugarcube. I understand how you feel. I can't go anywhere without my hat. Let me just tell Big Mac so he knows where I am, and we can go."

"Ok."

I waited at the entrance to the farm for Applejack to tell Big Mac our plans. It didn't take long before she had met up with me at the entrance, and we followed the path leading to town.

AJ's P.O.V.

As we entered the outskirts of town, I could tell that Flim was getting nervous. I could understand why, being the reason that him and his brother had scammed most of the ponies in town.

"You gonna be okay, Sugarcube?" I questioned.

"Yeah, of course," he responded with a slight hint of nervousness in his voice," I just don't know how everypony is going to treat me."

"You'll be fine. Just relax. If anyone tries to bother you, I'll send them on their way," I said with a wink.

Flim smiled at this, but instantly went back to a straight face as we entered the center of town. Ponies instantly stared at us as we walked through the middle of the market, but no pony said a word to us on our way to Rarity's boutique. Flim kept a straight face the whole time, but, on the inside, I could tell he was panicking that somepony would say something to him.

Once we made it clear across town, Flim let out a huge sigh of relief. I grinned at him, before stopping at the entrance to the boutique. I opened the door and walked in with Flim on my tail.

"Rarity?" I called out.

I heard her hoofsteps before she entered the main room.

"Applejack!" Rarity exclaimed. "What a lovely surprise! I was planning on coming out to the farm today since I didn't see you in town yester-."

Rarity instantly stopped talking once she noticed the tall, lanky stallion behind me.

"Um, Applejack, you do know who that is, don't you?" Rarity questioned with a concerned tone in her voice.

"Of course I do," I responded," It's Flim. He told me he needed some new clothes cause his old ones had been ripped, and I figured you'd be the perfect pony for the job."

"Well, okay then, Darling," Rarity replied before moving her glance over to Flim," What exactly do you have in mind?"

"Well," Flim started," I guess whatever is the least inexpensive."

"No, go ahead and get whatever you need," I butted in," I'll pay for it."

"Applejack, you don't have to do tha-."

"Nope. I made my mind. I'm gonna do some grocery shopping, so I'm gonna be gone for a few hours. Hopefully, you'll be ready when I get back."

"I'll make sure of that, " Rarity added.

"Well, see you later, Applejack."

"See ya."


	5. Chapter 5: Rather Dashing

Chapter 4: Awkward Encounters

AJ's P.O.V.

I awake to the sun shining down on me. It's warm, radiant glow shines through my eyelids, causing me to instantly wake up at the bright light. Before I even lifted my head off the bed, I realized that I have something in my grasp. I look down at my hooves and notice a cream colored leg in my hooves. At first, I am unbelievably confused at what is in my hooves, but then I remembered the night before. I feel my face begin to heat up as I remembered the events of last night, and I lifted my head slowly to see that I'm holding onto Flim's leg.

I realize that Flim is still fast asleep, so I carefully unwrapped my hooves from around his leg, hoping that Flim is a deep sleeper. Fortunately, he was, but as I had begun to move my hooves from around his leg, Flim shifted onto his side, making the situation even more awkward. Now we were mere inches from each other's muzzle. I gasped at the fact that there was barely inches between his and my body. I couldn't move my hooves now, or he would wake up for sure.

 _Think, AJ, think,_ I told myself. My mind ran through all the possibilities that I could escape this awkward situation, but each of them involved Flim waking up. The only idea I could think of was just to go back to sleep and play it off when Flim wakes up. Of course, I did have morning chores, but I'm sure Big Mac would get them done for me. I layed my head back on the pillow and fell back asleep.

Flim's P.O.V.

The sun is shining brightly through the window, causing me to squint once I open my eyes. I instantly feel something on my hoof, and I looked down to see two orange hooves wrapped around my own. At first I'm confused, but when I look up, I realize that Applejack is mere inches from my muzzle. I feel a blush begin to appear on my cheeks from the close proximity of our muzzles, and then I realized that Applejack was waking up.

She slowly opens her eyes, and they instantly grow in size when she notices just how close we are.

"Uh, good morning, Flim," Applejack said, clearly embarrassed.

"Good morning to you too."

She looked down at her hooves and saw how they were wrapped gently around my own. She looked back up at me, and her face bloomed like a ripe tomato from the intensity of her blush. In a rapid movement, Applejack unwrapped her hooves from my own and got up off the bed. Her face was still a shade of red, but it was beginning to disappear. I turned over on my other side to see her begin to walk out the door.

"Wait!" I tell her," You forgot your hat."

"Oh, right," she responded.

She began to reach for it, but before she could grab it herself, I lifted it off the nightstand and placed it gently on her head.

"Thanks," she said, replying to my gesture," Why don't you come on down for breakfast. I'm sure Granny already has plenty of food prepared for us."

"Uh, sure. Of course."

I placed my hooves on the ground and followed Applejack down to the kitchen, where Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith were all sitting down.

"Goodmorning, everypony," I say, as I make my way to my assigned chair.

"I'm guessing you two slept well?" Granny Smith asked.

Applejack and I gave each other a quick glance before responding.

"Yes," we said in unison.

"I never heard you head back to your room, AJ," Apple Bloom commented.

"Oh, uh, yeah," Applejack stuttered out," I fell asleep in Flim's room last night."

"Why? Is he your coltfriend?" Apple Bloom questioned.

"No!" we both shouted at her. Everypony could tell that we were embarrassed by the question, as our cheeks glowed red.

"Then why'd you slee-," Apple Bloom started.

"Apple Bloom, can you go bring the extra bottle of syrup?" Granny Smith interjected.

"Of course, Granny."

Apple Bloom galloped off to the kitchen and once she was gone, Granny whispered something to me.

"Don't you worry 'bout her now, you hear? She's just filly getting into the love stages of life."

I smiled at the reassurance Granny gave me. "Oh, it's no problem. I figured a question like that would have been asked at some point."

Granny nodded her head as Apple Bloom came rushing back with the syrup in her mouth.

"Here you go, Granny."

"Thank you, Deary."

Once we finished breakfast, I helped Applejack clean off the dishes before bringing up a question I had been meaning to ask.

"Hey, Applejack?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we could go into town so I can get some clothes? I know it's an odd question since ponies don't normally wear clothes, but I feel naked without it."

Applejack thought about it for a minute before responding.

"Of course we can, Sugarcube. I understand how you feel. I can't go anywhere without my hat. Let me just tell Big Mac so he knows where I am, and we can go."

"Ok."

I waited at the entrance to the farm for Applejack to tell Big Mac our plans. It didn't take long before she had met up with me at the entrance, and we followed the path leading to town.

AJ's P.O.V.

As we entered the outskirts of town, I could tell that Flim was getting nervous. I could understand why, being the reason that him and his brother had scammed most of the ponies in town.

"You gonna be okay, Sugarcube?" I questioned.

"Yeah, of course," he responded with a slight hint of nervousness in his voice," I just don't know how everypony is going to treat me."

"You'll be fine. Just relax. If anyone tries to bother you, I'll send them on their way," I said with a wink.

Flim smiled at this, but instantly went back to a straight face as we entered the center of town. Ponies instantly stared at us as we walked through the middle of the market, but no pony said a word to us on our way to Rarity's boutique. Flim kept a straight face the whole time, but, on the inside, I could tell he was panicking that somepony would say something to him.

Once we made it clear across town, Flim let out a huge sigh of relief. I grinned at him, before stopping at the entrance to the boutique. I opened the door and walked in with Flim on my tail.

"Rarity?" I called out.

I heard her hoofsteps before she entered the main room.

"Applejack!" Rarity exclaimed. "What a lovely surprise! I was planning on coming out to the farm today since I didn't see you in town yester-."

Rarity instantly stopped talking once she noticed the tall, lanky stallion behind me.

"Um, Applejack, you do know who that is, don't you?" Rarity questioned with a concerned tone in her voice.

"Of course I do," I responded," It's Flim. He told me he needed some new clothes cause his old ones had been ripped, and I figured you'd be the perfect pony for the job."

"Well, okay then, Darling," Rarity replied before moving her glance over to Flim," What exactly do you have in mind?"

"Well," Flim started," I guess whatever is the least inexpensive."

"No, go ahead and get whatever you need," I butted in," I'll pay for it."

"Applejack, you don't have to do tha-."

"Nope. I made my mind. I'm gonna do some grocery shopping, so I'm gonna be gone for a few hours. Hopefully, you'll be ready when I get back."

"I'll make sure of that, " Rarity added.

"Well, see you later, Applejack."

"See ya."


	6. Chapter 6: Pathways to Friendships

Chapter 6: Pathways to Friendships

AJ's P.O.V.

After waking up from a good night sleep, I made my way downstairs and started to cook breakfast. No one else was awake just yet, but Big Mac would probably be up soon. As I poured the pancake batter into the frying pan, I hear hoof steps approaching from behind, and I figure it's my older brother, but none other than Flim is standing at the kitchen archway watching me cook.

"I didn't think you would be up this early," I tell Flim.

"I figured the same for you," Flim retorted.

"Well, after years of working on the farm, you get use to waking up so early in the morning."

"I suppose that can be true."

Flim closed off the distance between us, with him standing beside me at the stove. There is less than five feet between us, and I could already feel my face heating up just as the stove was. Before I embarrassed myself in front of him, I moved away from the stove and grabbed some eggs.

"Flim, could you cook the pancakes while I start on the eggs?"

"Sure."

It wasn't long before the rest of my family woke. Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith were already seated at the table when me and Flim brought breakfast over to them.

"Dig in, everypony," I announced.

That does it for them. Before I even take a bite of my pancake, Big Mac and Apple Bloom had already stuffed down two pancakes while Granny Smith had already finished off her eggs. Flim and I just looked in shock at them and glanced at each other. I shrugged my shoulders and dug in myself.

No one wonder they were eating so fast. These pancakes were amazing! Much better than the ones I usually make. I notice Flim out of the corner of my eye looking and smiling at me.

"What?" I asked with a half-eaten pancake in my mouth.

"I figured everypony would enjoy my pancakes," he responded," I added a couple of ingredients to make the pancakes sweeter and fluffier. My mother would always make pancakes for our family, and I picked up the recipe over years of watching my mother do it."

"Your mom is an amazing cook!" Apple Bloom exclaimed with bits of pancake all around muzzle.

Flim chuckled before eating himself. Before long, all the pancakes had disappeared from their serving plate. The only evidence left that there had ever been pancakes was that everypony was covered in it. Flim levitated the dishes over to the sink and started cleaning them off. While he did, I decided to let him know what the schedule was for today.

"Okay, Flim, today we're going to go meet my friends," I told him.

He paused for a second before continuing to wash the dishes.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Flim questioned," I mean, Rarity was kind enough to see past my mistakes, but are you sure about your other friends?"

"Now, don't go getting your mane in a tangle. My friends are known for giving second chances. Even if this is your third chance, they will be more than willing to make you feel welcomed to Ponyville. We'll meet one of my friends at a time so you can get to know them better. Sound okay?"

"Yeah, it sounds great. Let me get dressed and we can go."

While I waited on Flim, I went ahead and told Big Mac our schedule again, so he would know where we went off to. I told him I would get more work done today to make up for the past two days. I made my way back to the house to see Flim standing in the doorway wearing his new outfit that Rarity made. It still took my breath away to see him dressed so nicely. I sighed before quickly moving those thoughts to the back of my mind.

"Ready, Flim?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Flim's P.O.V.

Applejack told me that our first stop that were going to meet a pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. As we made our way to the meeting spot, I couldn't help but stare at Applejack. Just the way the sun reflected off of her gorgeous, green eyes and the way the wind blew on her blonde ponytail. The freckles sealed the whole package.

 _Stop it, Flim. Applejack would never like a stallion like me. Besides, I kind of messed with her family one too many times. I'll never have the chance._

I shook the thoughts out of my head when Applejack announced that we were here. We were in the middle of a park, with, surprisingly, not that many ponies around.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack called out, looking up at the sky.

"Look out!"

Before I could comprehend where the voice had came from, I was knocked down on to my back with a cyan pegasus hovering above me.

"Flim, are you okay?" Applejack asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

I got up on all fours and got a good look at the rainbow tornado that had knocked me over. Hovering in front of me was a cyan pegasus with a rainbow tail and mane along with magenta eyes. I glanced where her cutie mark would be and saw a cloud with a rainbow strike coming out of it.

"Whoops. Sorry," the pony said while trying to keep back a laugh," I guess I wasn't watching where I was going."

"As usual," Applejack commented.

The pony stuck her tongue at Applejack before turning back at me.

"Name's Rainbow Dash, though I've bet you've heard of me before since I'm one of the best flyers in all of Equestria."

"Nice to meet you, Rainbow Dash. I'm Flim, although I'm sure you've heard of me before."

Rainbow Dash lowered down to the ground and gave me a look of disgust.

"Yeah, I remember you. You and your brother were the ones who tried to take over Sweet Apple Acres."

"Yep, that's me alright," I replied with a nervous laugh," I know now that I never should've messed with the Apple family the way me and brother did. I felt awful after we had sold that tonic to Granny Smith. We almost made her kill herself. I realize now that I don't want to be a conman anymore. I want to follow my own path, away from my brother and to begin to be more truthful along the way."

Applejack looked and smiled at me. I could tell she was proud of me for apologizing to her friend. I honestly felt great myself.

"Hey, it's no big deal," Rainbow Dash said, applying a smile to her face," If you're willing to be a better pony, I'll forgive you of your mistakes."

"Don't worry, Rainbow Dash," Applejack replied," Flim is already on his way to becoming a much better pony than he was before."

I smiled at Applejack at that lovely comment she said about me. I noticed the faintest hint of a blush appear on her cheeks before it disappeared just as quickly as it had arrived.

"Well, it's nice meeting you, Flim," Rainbow Dash said," But I have to go to Wonderbolts training now, so you guys later!"

In a blink of an eye, Rainbow Dash had already took off in to the sky before I could even reply.

"Let's go, Flim," Applejack said to me," We still have three of my other friends to meet."

"After you," I gestured.

By the time we had made it closer to town, my stomach was growling. I realized it was lunch time, I mentioned it to Applejack.

"Do you think we could have lunch?" I asked her," I'm starting to get hungry."

"I'm getting hungry myself, so sure, why not?" Applejack replied," And I know just the perfect place."

She turned down a different path from the one we had been following and led us right to a building shaped like a cupcake. If the food inside was a good as the outside of the buidling, then this was surely going to be a good lunch.


	7. Chapter 7: Pinkie Apple Pie

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p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Chapter 7: Pinkie Apple Pie/p  
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p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Flim's P.O.V./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Once we got trough the front door of the building, the smell of sweets filled my nose. The sweet aroma of cupcakes and pies being baked was breath-taking compared to the fast food that Flam and I would usually have. I guess I dazed off cause Applejack gave me a nudge in my side./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Uh, Flim?" Applejack asked quizzically," You know what you're getting for lunch?"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Oh!" I shouted accidentally," I mean, I think I'll have a just have a apple pie."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Applejack nodded her head before walking up to the register where a very pink pony was standing. She had light, pink fur with a hot pink, cotton-candy shaped mane and tail. Her bright, blue eyes just about popped out of their sockets when she looked at me./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Hey, Pinkie-," Applejack started was abruptly cut off by the frizzy mare./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" the pink pony exclaimed," I've seen you before! You and your brother almost ran the Apple family out of town! Good times, am I right?"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Pinkie, her name apparently, had a huge smile plastered onto her face after announcing her exclamation for almost everypony in Ponyville to hear without a care in the world. Applejack just face-hoofed at the overly enthusiastic mare's words./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Yes, Pinkie," Applejack finally responded," This is Flim. He's been staying with our family for the past few days."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Applejack! Why didn't you tell me sooner! You know how I just LOVE meeting new ponies even if they are old ponies. Ah! I just had a great idea! Why don't I make a "Welcome to Ponyville" party! Won't that be super duper?"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Well, Pinkie," I began," That would be a great idea. I would love to make a better impression for everypony in town. To let them know I'm not just some lousy, conniving, ex-conman. What do you think, Applejack?"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Sure, why not. While we're here Pinkie, we would like to order two apple pies."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Okie-dokie-lokie!"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Applejack pointed to booth near away from the window and sat down and I followed in suite. In a blink of an eye, Pinkie appeared next to our table, nearly giving me and AJ a heart attack./p  
br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;" /  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Two apple pies. See you later, guys. Oh! And tell the rest of our friends I said 'hi'!/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""How did you kno-," Applejack started but stopped herself,"Forget it. Thanks, Pinkie."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"I looked down at the pie before me and it smelled just as good as it tasted. The apples were smoothly compressed together, making a delectable sensation across my taste buds, and the crust was perfect. Not too thin, not too thick. Perfect./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"I began to eat at a faster pace, but when I looked up, Applejack was barely moving at a mosey eating her pie. I guess using hooves to eat was harder than it looked. Of course, I always used my magic to eat, so I never stopped to wonder what it was like to eat with hooves./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"My pie was completely devoured, and Applejack had only ate about half of hers. I tried to think of a way to help her, but, unfortunately, she didn't have any magic of her own to use. Wait! That's it!/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Hey, Applejack?" I said, interrupting her eating," Do you think I could help you with something?"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Um, sure?" She answered, unsure of what I was thinking./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"I moved the pie over to my side of the table./p  
br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;" /  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Hey!" She exclaimed, upset I was taking her pie./p  
br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;" /  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Just wait a second."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"I broke off a piece of the pie with my magic and levitated it over to Applejack. She looked at the food then at me and gave me a dumbfounded look./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""I don't get it," I stated./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Open your mouth," I tell her./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Wait, you don't mean-?"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Come on, I saw you struggling to eat your pie. I only want to help you."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"She gave me one more unsure glance before she gave in and opened her mouth. I moved the piece of pie into her mouth and let her swallow before getting another piece and continuing the process. Applejack finally relaxed as I began feeding her like a foal while she looked out the window, and I thought I caught the faintest hint a smile and a blush on her cheeks./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Before she knew it, the pie was gone. She looked at me with the blush still visible on her face along with a smile./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Thanks."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Anytime."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"We got up from our booth, said our final goodbyes the bubbly pink pony, and began our walk to the next friend on Applejack's list./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Now, Flim," Applejack began./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Yes?"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""I know my last two friends were energetic and bubbly, but my next friend is rather shy around other ponies she doesn't really know. Just try to keep a calm, leveled voice and be kind the her animals."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Animals?"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""She cares and communicates to animals all the time. It's her special talent. But I'm warning you of one of her pets. Angel bunny."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"I gave a little chuckle at the name, but Applejack cut me off with a serious look./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""You're being serious? How can a bunny named Angel be bad?"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""You'll have to figure that one out for yourself."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"We approached the complete opposite side of town and followed a trail to a small, cozy cottage on the out-skirts of town. As we go closer the cottage, I noticed many different types of animals wondering around. There were deer and bunnies playing in a field and squirrels were playing tag with one another along with chipmunks scurrying around with them./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Now at the house, I couldn't name most of the animals I was seeing. I just looked around while Applejack knocked on the door, waiting for a response./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"What kind of pony will this one be?/p  
/div  
/div  
/div 


	8. Chapter 8: Leave It to Me

Chapter 8: Leave It to Me

AJ's P.O.V.

Flim and I had been waiting for about five minutes before I heard a faint cry in the distance.

"Do you hear that?" I asked Flim.

"Yeah, I do. It sounds like a pony, but where is it coming from?"

I started walking towards to the muffled sobs along a path that ran around Fluttershy's little cottage. Flim was on my tail, trying to figure out where the source of the crying was coming from. I turned one last corner before I noticed Fluttershy leaning over with her head in her hooves. I cleared the space between us, knelt down, and questioned Fluttershy as to why she was crying.

"Fluttershy?" I spoke up.

She turned to look at me. Her soft, pink mane was moist from her wet tears, and her usual sunny fur was darkened with stains of more wet tears that had fell onto her chest.

"Oh, Applejack," Fluttershy mumbled," Me and Angel bunny had an argument today."

I noticed Flim staying further back, not wanting to bring anymore distress to the already teared-up pony. I mouthed a quick 'thank you' before returning to the problem at hoof.

"Fluttershy, I know this is a bad time, but I want you to me somepony."

I pointed my hoof in Flim's direction, and Fluttershy turned to look at him. She was shocked, to say the least, but she was more distraught about Angel than an unknown pony.

"Now, what did you and Angel get into fight about this time?" I asked curiously.

"Well, as usual, he didn't want to eat the same meal that the rest of the animals were eating. He wanted his own personal, hoof-made dish, but what he was wanting was not possible for me to make today. There were many ingredients I was missing, and I didn't have the time to go and get them. I told Angel, but he would not take no for an answer, but I was not going to be pushed around this time. I stood my ground and told him that he either had to eat what everypony else was eating or to not eat anything at all. Like I had thought, he did not like my response and zoomed out the door. It's been a little over three hours, I haven't seen any sign of him."

Fluttershy try to keep her tears back but her tears burst into two waterfalls on either side of her face. I hated seeing Fluttershy in such a horrible shape. It was just heart wrenching, but I had to stay strong for her.

"Would you like it if Flim and I went to go look for him?"

"You would do that? For me? He could be anywhere by now."

"Of course, Fluttershy. You're one of my best friends, and I would do anything for a friend in need."

She pulled me in for a tight hug before turning to Flim and giving him a meek "thank you". He smiled back and said "you're welcome" before we both took off looking for Angel. I pointed towards another path leading away from the cottage, and Flim followed behind me as we made our way to a lost Angel bunny.

Flim's P.O.V.

"Well, that sure was one way to say,'hello,'" I commented.

"She's just upset, Sugarcube," Applejack reassured me," Once we bring back Angel, I'm sure she'll be back to her lovely self again."

We continued down a pathway leading towards the Everfree Forest, and once we came to the edge of it, we each other a quick glance before entering the dangerous wilderness. I noticed that Applejack had gotten closer to me, and I did the same. I was not about to be attacked by a twig assembled wolf. I could feel Applejack's fur brush up against mine as we continued deeper into the forest, repeatedly calling out Angel's name loud enough for him to hear us, but not too loud so that any dangerous creatures could find us. I heard a rustle coming from my left and nudged Applejack to follow my lead.

"Angel!" I called out once more.

The rustling became louder as we continued down our new path. I thought I saw a tip of a white ear as we got closer to the ongoing sound. Making a final turn around a tree, there was a little, white bunny sitting next to a bush full of blueberries.

"Angel," Applejack said to the bunny," Fluttershy's been worried sick about you. Come on, let's head back to the cottage."

The little bunny was defiant and shook his head no. AJ grumbled at the bunny's attitude, but I took charge before she said something that would cause the little thing to scurry farther away.

"Hey, Angel," I announced my presence to him," We're not here to hurt you. Fluttershy is worrying about you, you know? She's crying right now because her favorite bunny ran off into a dangerous forest where she might never see him again."

I saw Angel's ears lower at this comment, and he turned to look at me.

"I know you and her had a little argument earlier this morning, but you two should be able to forgive each other instead of wandering around in a monster infested forest. Is that what you want to happen?"

Angel shook his head slowly.

"Now, let's get going, little bunny."

I could see that Angel was hesitant at first, but he knew that if he stayed here, he may never come back out. He began bouncing right along us as we made our way back to the cottage.

"Wow," Applejack said," That was mighty impressive how you got that stubborn bunny to agree to follow us back to Fluttershy. I doubt I would've been able to keep my hooves to myself if I was here alone."

"Well, I honestly didn't expect him to agree, but I did surprise myself at how well I handled the situation."

"Fluttershy's is definitely going to warm up to you after this fiasco."

"Good to know."

I smiled at her, and she smiled back as we continued our way back out of the forest. I thought I'd heard something in the distance, but it was probably another bunny so I shook it off as nothing, but then Applejack heard it, too.

"Do you hear that?" she asked.

"Yeah," I responded," It's probably a bunny or something."

"I don't think so. The hoofsteps seem a little harder than a bunny's would be."

I turned to look at her and raised my eyebrow. Then what could it be? Before I could ask her, a heard a very close howl. She turned to look at me before we both sprinted off out of the woods. I took one look back behind us, and I wish I hadn't. Three timberwolves were chasing after us. Not again, I thought.

I was much farther along than Applejack. My long legs were in no comparison to her short ones. The timberwolves were right on her tail. Before thinking it through, I ran back towards Applejack and pushed her along while I stayed behind her, blocking her from the timberwolves, but before I could stop the attack, a timberwolf jumped out and bit Applejack in her hind-leg. She yelped in pain, and she began to limp. I ran by her side, and put my hoof around her to keep her steady. I saw the sunlight begin to come down, and I knew we were close.

"Just I little further!" I yelled at Applejack.

We sprinted faster as we made it into the clearing by Fluttershy's cottage. Applejack instantly collapsed as the timberwolves backed away into the forest, letting out one last howl before disappearing behind the darkened trees. I knelt down next to her, and there was a gash in the side of left hind-leg. She tried not to show it, but I could see she was in a whole lot of pain. I lifted her slowly as to not cause anymore damage to her leg and placed her hoof around my shoulders so she would be kept upright. We slowly and carefully made our way back to Fluttershy and saw that her and Angel were hugging one another. As we came into view, Fluttershy looked up at us and saw the distress Applejack was in.

"Oh my!" Fluttershy exclaimed," What ever happened?"

"Timberwolves," Applejack muttered.

"Hold on, I'll be right back!"

In an instant, Fluttershy took off to her cottage and came back with bandages. She lowered to the ground and began to wrap the bandage around Applejack's leg. Applejack was grimacing in pain and nuzzled her head into my chest to hide the tears that she wouldn't let anypony see. I rubbed my hoof up and down her back to calm her down while Fluttershy finished unrolling the bandage. Applejack looked back up and thanked Fluttershy.

"You should get on home," Fluttershy suggested," And try to keep off of that leg for about two days."

"Two days?!" Applejack exclaimed," But I have work to do!"

"Don't worry about that, now," I told her," Big Mac and I will make up for your work."

"I couldn't ask you to do that,-"

"You don't have to."

We said goodbye to Fluttershy before we made our way back to the farm.

AJ's P.O.V.

I was now lying in my bed with Flim standing beside me. Granny Smith decided to make me a bowl of soup, and Flim was now spoon feeding me. It was kind of ridiculous, but I honestly didn't care. I was in too much pain at the moment to even lift my hooves. After finishing my supper, it was close to 10:00, as it read on clock, and I was overwhelmed with exhaustion from today's events. Once Flim came back up to my room from eating his own supper, I told I was ready to go to sleep.

"Good night, Flim," I said.

"Good night, my apple," Flim responded.

I blushed at the nickname before resting my head on my pillow and drifting off into a deep sleep.

Not long after midnight, I woke up from a terrible pain coming from my leg that had been bit. I let out a groan of pain that had been too loud that I had expected it to be. The next thing I knew, Flim was hovering over me.

"Are you okay?" Flim asked groggily.

"My leg is just really hurting is all," I said before asking a question that had popped into my mind," Will you sleep in here, please?"

I regretted asking it the moment it came out, but Flim was clearly not bothered by the question.

"Of course I will."

Before I knew it, Flim walked to the other side of the bed and lifted the covers with his magic before lying down and bringing the covers over both of us. I was turned on my side looking away from Flim and began falling asleep again, but not before I felt a hoof slowly wrap itself around my stomach. I snuggled up against it and fell asleep once again, but with a smile now plastered onto my face.


	9. Chapter 9: Love is in the Air

div id="chapter-body" class="chapter-body double-spaced" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; color: #555555; text-align: justify; hyphens: none;"  
div class="bbcode" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; word-break: break-word;"  
p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Chapter 9: Love is in the Air/p  
p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Flim's P.O.V./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"I awoke with my muzzle in the mess of Applejack's hair. It took me a minute to figure out what had happened the night before. I remembered that Applejack had asked me to sleep in here, but I had passed out after that. I now realized that my hoof was wrapped around her waist. br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;" /My cheeks flushed a dark red, but I couldn't deny it, I loved it. Having her in my arms felt wonderful with her warm body up against mine. I wish we could stay like this forever./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Wow, I thought, I'm really falling for a lovely, country mare./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"I had another thought, but I got rid of it before I could go through with the action I had had in my head. I thought some more. And more. Finally, I had made up my mind on my action. I was going to go through with it./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"I moved my face out of Applejack's mane slowly and raised my head up to her forehead./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Ok, on the count of 3./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"1/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"2/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"3!/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"I leaned in quickly and kissed her lightly on the forehead. It wasn't much, but it felt amazing! I was grinning ear to ear when Applejack started waking up. I quickly acted like I was asleep with my hoof still around her./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"AJ's P.O.V./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Pain. So much pain. My leg was tremendous pain. I tried not to cry out cause I remembered that Flim had came in here last night. Speaking of Flim, where is he? Before I could even flip over, I felt his body up against mine./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"I stopped moving as to not wake him up and relaxed into his body. Suddenly, the pain in my leg went away. I felt wonderful and warm next to Flim. I also felt his hoof firmly wrapped around me./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"I had a thought. A thought that I didn't know I could think about. A thought that I took the liberty to think over for a few minutes. The minutes seemed like hours before my thought became reality./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"I slowly began flipping myself to have my face in his chest until I was cradled up against him with my head under his own. I then gently nudged up against him and curled myself into him./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"I felt absolutely wonderful with Flim against me. I couldn't resist giving him a slight kiss on his neck. I went stiff when I felt Flim shift. I then felt him bring me in even closer to him. I could also feel him wrap me up even tighter in his grip./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"It was still early in the morning. My clock read 3:00, so I decided I would go back to sleep. The pain in my leg went away and a wonderful sensation was going off in my heart./p  
br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;" /  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"I woke up once again, but this time, I could see the sun shining through the window and Flim's hoof wrapped around me. I felt content as I felt the fall and rise of Flim breathing./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Good morning," Flim said./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"I could feel my face burning like a fiery furnace. I looked up and saw that Flim's face was burning just as badly./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Good morning," I responded./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Did you sleep we-," Flim started before I interrupted him with a loud groan. The pain had come back to my leg, and it was screaming to be moved. Before I could do it myself, Flim sat me up slowly, moved my legs apart, and used his magic to lift my hurt leg above the blankets. A single tear fell down my face, and Flim wipes it away and pulled me in for a gentle hug. I nuzzled my head against him and fell back onto my pillow./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""I'll be right back, AJ," Flim told me before letting me go and walking down the stairs to the rest of my family. It wasn't long before Flim came back in with a plate of eggs in his magic and sat down next to me on the bed. Flim then began to feed me so I wouldn't have to move my legs./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Thanks, Flim," I told him./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""I'm just doing what you did for me," Flim responded with a growing smile on his face./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Once Flim came back up after washing the dishes, I had a request for him./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Flim?" I asked," Do you think you could do me a huge favor?"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Of course," Flim responded," What do you need?"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Could you go to Twilight's castle? I'm sure she could make some kinda ointment or something that could help relieve the pain in my leg."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""I'll leave immediately."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Before he left though, he close to my face and kissed me on the forehead. I just sat in shock while Flim walked out of the house with a huge smile on his face./p  
br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;" /  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Flim's P.O.V./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"I can't believe I did that! It just felt like the perfect moment to do it, but I don't know how Applejack felt about it. Maybe I should ask her about it when I get back to the farm./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"It wasn't long before I saw the huge castle peak the top of the buildings in town, and not that long before I was standing at the entrance of the Castle of Friendship. I straightened out my shirt before knocking on the grand doors./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"No more than ten seconds later, the doors were opened by a green and purple dragon. At first, I was taken aback by a dragon before me, but I realized that he didn't have any wings and that he was about the height of Apple Bloom./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Welcome to the Castle of Friendship," the little dragon stated," How may I help you today?"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Well, I've been sent here by-,"/p  
br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;" /  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Hey!" The dragon cut me off," I know you! You and your brother were the ones who tried to get rid of the Apple family!"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Yep, that's me," I responded with a little smile on my face," But that's not who I am any more. I'm here because of Applejack."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Woah, woah, woah. Back up. Applejack sent you here?"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Yeah, she hurt her leg really bad, and she was hoping that Princess Twilight would be able to give her something for it."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Oh, I'm, okay then. Come in."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"The little dragon stepped aside, allowing me to come in. The castle was exquisite! It was built out of thousands of crystals and the ceilings were over a hundred feet tall! The dragon began walking away, and I decided to follow him. I was not planning on getting lost in here./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"After going up and down at least 5 long hallways, we stopped in front of a gigantic library with the Princess reading a thousand page book before looking up at us./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Oh, thanks Spike for bringing our guest in," Twilight told her assistant," You may go help Rarity now."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Sweet!" Spike shouted," Thanks, Twilight!"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Twilight giggled at Spike's enthusiasm as he scurried away on his short little legs./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Hello, Flim," Twilight greeted me./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""I'm guessing you remember me, too?"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Well, you and your brother did make quite a reputation here."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Yeah, I've been getting that a lot."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""So what brings you here? And where's your brother?"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""First off, my brother is working on his own project, and I'm here on behalf of Applejack."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Twilight stopped her magic spell that was holding up her book which dropped to the ground making a loud echo throughout the castle./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Wait, Applejack sent you?"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Yes, she did. She got into a bad accident yesterday, and she was hoping you could whip her up some ointment or something that could get rid of the pain."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""I definitely can give her something for the pain, but I won't be able to come and visit her today, unfortunately. I'm having to go off to Canterlot tonight to discuss a topic that I need bring to the attention to the Royal Sisters."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Of course. I'm sure Applejack will understand."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""It'll take about ten minutes for me to make the ointment, so why don't you relax for a few minutes, and please, read any book you want."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Thank you, Princess."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Just 'Twilight' is fine."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"She walked out of the library, and I began looking over the thousands of books in the library. One particular book caught my eye. "Crushes for Dummies". I don't really look at these kinds of books, but since I've been getting so close with Applejack, I figured I should get to know more about what exactly is going on between me and her./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Exactly ten minutes later, Twilight came back in the library with a tube of what I can assume is the ointment. I quickly closed the book and floated it back up to its proper location./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Did you find an interesting book?" Twilight questioned./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""You could say that."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Anyways, here's the medicine for Applejack. You or somepony else needs to able this to the cut once a day. If you are the one to apply it, don't use your magic. The magic affects the chemicals in the ointment."/p  
br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;" /  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Thank you very much, Twilight."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""It was my pleasure."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"I was about to leave the library, but I figured I would need the help to find my way back out of the castle of mazes./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Do you think you could show me the way out of here?"/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Of course. This place does seem to get ponies lost."/p  
br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;" /br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;" /  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"AJ's P.O.V./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Now I can see why Flim hated lying in bed. It's so boring! I can't do anything besides sleep, and once again, Big Mac and Apple Bloom had to do my chores on top of their own. It wasn't fair./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Flim came back around dinner time and brought me up a plate of oat salad. He fed me once again, but I didn't care anymore. I had gotten used to it, and I was starting to like it./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Flim came back up once again after doing the dishes and brought a tube of something./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""I'm guessing that's the medicine?" I asked./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Sure is," he responded," Twilight said I can't use my magic to apply it cause it would affect the chemicals in it."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Oh um, okay," I complied. I was kind of timid cause he would be touching me very close to where no one has touched before. I moved the covers off my legs and moved my hurt leg closer to Flim./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""It may sting, but it should start feeling better in a few minutes."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Okay then. Go for it."/p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Flim opened the tube and squeezed a drop of the ointment onto his hoof. He seemed nervous himself at the fact he would be so close to my lower regions. He placed his hoof at the bottom of the cut, and I could instantly feel the sting. I had to keep back a cry of pain as Flim slowly moved his hoof further up the cut. He was really close to private parts, and we were both kind of nervous./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"He got some more ointment out of the tube and continued to apply it further up my leg. He was unbelievably close to touching me. I was really nervous, but it felt good at the same time. I knew it was wrong to think like that, but it felt like he was teasing me when all he was doing was applying medicine to my hurt leg. He reached the top of the cut and barely rubbed over the very bottom of my nether region. I held back a quiet moan of pleasure and resisted to buck up at the touch. Flim moved his hoof away, and I could feel the medicine start to take its effects./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"It was already pitch black outside by the time Flim came back in from practicing his bucking. He said he gotten a lot better, and I believed him. Big Mac even mentioned it to me when he came in to see how I was doing. Flim entered my room once again./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""Would you like me to sleep in here again?" He asked./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;""That would be nice," I accepted./p  
p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; transition: background-color 0.5s;"Flim made his way to the other side of the bed and turned over so we were looking at each other. I moved closer to him, and he did the same. It wasn't long before I had fell asleep in Flim's sweet embrace./p  
/div  
/div 


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